2002 LA Auto Show -- Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Review

For supporters of the electric vehicle, the 2002 LA Auto Show was a huge
improvement on 2001. There were plenty of vehicles on display, but there
was a general lack of information, confirming the belief held by may that
the automobile manufactures don't really want to make the effort needed to
sell them.

I started my visit at the West Hall where Ford, Honda and Nissan were
situated. Just by the entrance was the Th!nk Mobility display. Sitting
out front was a bright red 2003 Th!nk City. The new model is a little longer
and a little less tall than its predecessor but has the same general
appearance. The car was locked and the tinted glass made it difficult to
see inside. Also on display was the recently launched Th!nk Neighbor NEV.

I looked around for a representative from Th!nk but there was nobody in
sight. There were some brochures lying around so I grabbed one before
moving on.

The rest of the Ford exhibit was quite disappointing. I didn't expect to
see the Ranger EV on display but I did expect to see the Escape HEV. They
did have the gasoline version sandwiched between an Explorer and an
Excursion, but not the HEV.

Next to the Ford Exhibit was the Honda display. Honda had gone all out to
show their current crop of "green " vehicles. Along with the Insight HEV
they also had the new Civic Hybrid. Unfortunately they had it sitting on
a roped-off podium so the only indication that it was an HEV was the
lettering on the back. One of my objectives in visiting the Auto Show was to learn
more about new Civic. Unfortunately the people at the Honda display
couldn't tell me anything about it. They didn't even have a brochure they could
give me.

I was very surprised to see a CNG version of the Civic sitting in front of
HEV version. The natural gas powered Honda Civic is certified by the
California Air resource Board (CARB) as a partial zero emission (PZEV)
vehicle so it was nice to see Honda actually making an attempt, however
feeble, to market it.

Looking up from the CNG civic I saw what I thought was a Honda EV+ sitting
on a turntable. It turned out to be one of Honda's fuel cell vehicles.
Honda has been developing fuel cell powered cars using the EV+ platform as
a way to reduce development costs.

I moved passed the Dodge display, which mostly featured gas-guzzling SUVs,
to the Mercedes exhibit. I was wandering if they might have a Smart on
display but of course they didn't. They did feature the $100,000 S55
sedan, and the new 500 SL was definitely being drooled on by many of the shows
visitors.

The Nissan stand was also full of disappointments. The new 350Z looks
like a Porsches and was attracting quite a crowed. What Nissan did not have on
display was the Altra or the Hypermini. Even more disappointing was the
omission of the Sentra CA. Although the Sentra CA is a gasoline powered
vehicle, it has been certified as PZEV by the CARB. With the ZEV mandate
coming into effect next year it is surprising that they were not trying
harder to sell them.

On my way out of the West Hall I stopped by the Th!nk display once more
and found Tom, a representative from Th!nk, busy directing a prospective
lessee to Ken Grody Ford in Buena Park who still have a few of the European model
in stock.

Tom told me that the 2003 city has been improved with several safety
features including side impact protection, more intelligent air bags and
improved seat belts that will reduce injuries in a collision. The body
will be made from dent resistant plastic that is totally recyclable.

I asked about advanced battery options and he told me that the 2003 model
would continue to have NiCad batteries. In the past I had been told that
the NiCads were going to be replaced with Lead Acid but I think the NiCads
are better as they have a ten-year life and a better energy density than
sealed lead acid batteries. The only downside is that the NiCads require
service every 3,000 miles.

Tom also told me that there are going to be about forty dealerships in
California that will be selling the Th!nk City starting in the Fall. For
further details he told me to check 1-877-GO-THINK.

Moving on to the South Hall I began by checking out the Jeep-Chrysler
stand where I got my next pleasant surprise. Sitting among a hoard of PT
Cruisers I found the GEM exhibit.

Chrysler had not one, not two, but four GEMS on display. There were
two-seat and four-seat versions along with long-bed and short-bed truck
configurations. There was even someone from Global Electric Motor
Vehicles, the Daimler Chrysler subsidiary that makes the GEM, to explain the
vehicles. He told me that the GEM is now being sold through Chrysler dealerships in
California and other sun-belt states.

When I got to the GM and Saturn exhibits I have to say that may
expectations were low and GM did nothing to improve them. Although GM did have a
number of sedans on display they didn't have anything that looked mildly
environmentally friendly. At least there didn't seem to be much interest
in the new Hummer. I did notice that the specifications carefully omitted
any mention of fuel economy.

The final insult came at the Saturn dealership where last years EV1
display had been replaced by an SUV on a turntable. This was the vehicle that the
Saturn representatives were pushing.

Toyota had both the Prius HEV and the RAV4 EV on display. Both vehicles
were open so that people could climb in and have a close-up look.

Once again I couldn't find anyone to talk about the vehicles but there was
a bunch of brochures on the dash of the RAV4 EV. The front of the brochure
reads, "Holds everything but gas", which makes a good advertising slogan.
The RAV4 EV is due to go on sale in California in February.

Finally I made my way down to Kentia Hall where the after market vendors
display their wares. Hidden away in the back of the hall was an exhibit
of alternative fueled vehicles. I would probably have missed it if Tom, from
Th!nk hadn't told me to watch out for it.

The display, sponsored by the Electric Vehicle Association of America
(EVAA) included a European model Th!nk City, a Th!nk Neighbor, a GEM, a Columbia
ParCar NEV, a Nissan Hypermini, a RAV4 EV, an electric Postal Truck based
on the Ford Ranger EV platform, a Ford Escape HEV, a Toyota Prius, a Honda
Insite, the Ford 2000 Fuel Cell vehicle and the Insight Davis Chevy Suburban
HEV.

The TH!nk city had a sign on it saying "Available today, see representative", but the representative was nowhere to be found. All the vehicles, were locked and there was nobody about who could give me any information about them.

There was also a TV showing a video from Voltage Vehicles. It showed a
number of vehicles including an electric VW Bug and the Lectra electric
motorbike, which I thought was no longer being produced.

Voltage Vehicles has just signed an agreement with Solectria to build and
market electric cars. Unfortunately there was nobody from Voltage
Vehicles that I could talk to about their plans for the future, or the vehicles
they currently have on sale.

RAD2Go had a large number of vehicles on their stand, including some
electric scooters and bikes. They also had the MORAD 1000 and MORAD 2000
full sized electric scooters on display. The RAD2Go people did not have
any brochures on these two vehicles and didn't seem to know much about them
either.

They did tell me that the MORAD 1000 has a maximum speed of around 30 mph
and the MORAD 2000 as a top speed of around 50 mph. They claim a range of
47 miles for both these scooters. The RAD2Go reps seemed a lot more
knowledgeable about the small gasoline powered scooter that they had on
special offer.

With one full sized EV, one City EV, 3 NEVs, 2 full sized electric
scooters, 4 HEVs and 1 CNG vehicle on display, and all of them, with the exception
of the Ford Escape HEV, being available now, or going on sale later this
year, the 2002 LA Auto Show was certainly an improvement over last years
disappointing display.

It would have been nice if there had been representatives available who
could have given me more details about the cars. It does seem that the ZEV
mandate is starting to take effect and the long drought for those who want
to purchase EVs in California may finally be coming to an end. Now we
have to get the vehicles into showrooms across the nation so that the
automobile manufacturers can finally reach the kind of volumes they need to build EVs
cost effectively.

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